Send OpenPGP Encrypted E-Mails From Microsoft Outlook

Encrypt Files On Windows 11/10 Desktop

Free for Personal, Non-Profit Users and Independent Journalists.

What is Encryptomatic OpenPGP for Outlook?

It's an easier to install and use OpenPGP compliant email encryption add-in for Microsoft Office Outlook. Encryptomatic OpenPGP integrates tightly with the Microsoft Outlook menu system and the Windows desktop to deliver the benefits of OpenPGP e-mail and file encryption, in a manner so that even non-technical users will benefit.

Why Did We Build It?

If you have been struggling to implement OpenPGP encryption in Microsoft Outlook and/or Windows, we built Encryptomatic OpenPGP for you. We wanted to use OpenPGP in our business, but discovered that the available software tools were either too expensive, too difficult to deploy, too unsupported, or were too unstable to use reliably. Being software developers, and finding that OpenPGP is a well known open standard, we decided to built the app that we wanted to use. The effort turned proved to be more difficult than we imagined, but we persevered. The result is a highly stable, easy to implement Outlook add-in and Windows desktop encryption app. End-to-end e-mail encryption is a crucial tool for protecting your business communications and personal privacy. Journalists use OpenPGP to communicate with sources. Businesses are required by law in the U.S. to encrypt certain types of information before sending by e-mail. Lawyers, bankers, and accountants use e-mail encryption to protect their clients. A simple Wizard gets new users up and quickly reaping the benefits of using OpenPGP. Encryptomatic OpenPGP has now been installed on tens of thousands of computers around the world.

'Quick Start' to Using Encryptomatic OpenPGP for Outlook

After downloading and installing the Encryptomatic OpenPGP add-in, open a new e-mail window in Outlook and locate these buttons in the Outlook tool bar. Select the "Encrypt" button, compose your message and "Send" your Outlook e-mail Your message will be encrypted then sent to the recipient. Messages can also be signed by selecting the "Sign" button. When the email message is encrypted, it will be obscured while it is in transit. It will appear to snoops as the message below. Remember that the recipient will need OpenPGP software to decrypt the message. Fortunately, there are OpenPGP solutions for every platform.

Windows Desktop Integration

Encryptomatic OpenPGP is available from the Windows right-click context menu. To encrypt or sign a file, a user need only right click on it. Athough Encryptomatic OpenPGP began as an email encryption add-in for Microsoft Outlook users, now it can be used by any Windows user, even if they don't have Outlook.

Is Encryptomatic OpenPGP Open Source?

Encryptomatic OpenPGP uses a highly regarded open source cryptolibrary. We are active contributors to the project, both financially and by offering code improvements and bug fixes. While the crypto library is open source, our signed installer package and our Outlook integration code is presently closed source, but may be opened later when this project is substantially complete.

What is OpenPGP?

OpenPGP is an encryption protocol specified in RFC-4880. It is implemented in GPG. OpenPGP is a widely used protocol that changed the world when it was introduced in 1991 by Phil Zimmermann, a person who paid a high personal price to share it with the world. How OpenPGP came to be is a fascinating story. OpenPGP uses a public key for encrypting a message, and a private key to decrypt. Before sending an encrypted message, you will first need to obtain the recipient's public key. Typical ways of sharing public keys is to just send it to someone in an e-mail, or upload it to a public key server where Encryptomatic OpenPGP can find it automatically. Some enthusiasts even get together to sign public keys in a web of trust. Encryptomatic OpenPGP for Outlook is hghly compatible with other implementations of OpenPGP including PGP, GPG, and Enigmail.

Does Encryptomatic OpenPGP Support Key Servers?

Yes, it supports sharing, key discovery and revoking keys on popular PGP key servers, such as MIT.EDU. You can add a URL for any other key servers you wish to use. Public keys may also be shared manually or by email.

What other Options Do I Have?

There are numerous settings in Encryptomatic OpenPGP for Outlook that you may configure, including:

• Passphrase unlock time
• Checking for updates
• Key server refresh
• Add favorite key servers
• Configure rules around encrypting based on domains
• Always encrypt or always sign every email
• Configure email validation warnings
• Add or remove email addresses for a key
• Change passphrase
• Revoke keys
• Import public keys from file, clipboard or key server
• Import other private keys

How can I share my Public Key?

To share your public key by e-mail with someone else, select Encryptomatic OpenPGP's "Key Management" button. Next click on the e-mail address whose public key you want to share. Finally, go to "Key Share" and choose one of the options, such as uploading to a key server, copying to your clip board, saving as a file or sending it in an e-mail

Isn't E-mail Already Encrypted? I heard Gmail was encrypting e-mail.

A well managed e-mail server will pass messages to another email server over an encrypted TLS connection. While this is always a good idea, you can't depend on it; whether or not it happens is outside of your control. There are still some email servers accepting unencrypted connections, meaning that your message will be vulnerable to being read or tampered with while in transit. And while TLS encrypts a message while in transit, it doesn't encrypted the message while at rest on an email server. Unencrypted text e-mails remain vulnerable to scanning, tampering, persistent storage and hacking (just ask the people at Sony Pictures). By using encryption tools like Encryptomatic OpenPGP for Outlook, your message is encrypted end-to-end, from the sender to the receiver. Even if the email server is mismanaged, even if the email message is backed up somewhere, the text of your OpenPGP encrypted email cannot be read or tampered with.

What other software is there for encrypting communication?

There are several projects we like. Check them out if Encryptomatic OpenPGP isn't the best fit for you. For email encryption on your Android phone, we like K9 Mail with Open KeyChain. Mozilla Thunderbird has OpenPGP. For day to day mobile messaging, we use and love Signal Private Messenger. For intercepting encrypted messages, your adversary will likely have more luck seizing your computer or phone than trying to hack open your encrypted email. This is why you should be using whole-disk encryption to protect your computer.